Pathogen surrogates based on encapsulated tagged DNA for verification of sanitation and wash water systems for fresh produce

Inventors

Zografos, Antonios • Farquar, George Roy • Carter, John Mark

Abstract

A pathogen surrogate, formed by a DNA tag or bar code and a carrier, is described for use in the validation and verification of sanitation, such as in food processing operations and for wash water systems for fresh produce. The carrier material is selected so that the pathogen surrogate mimics the behavior of a pathogen when subjected to a sanitation operation. One or more surrogates can be introduced in to an environment, which is then subjected to sanitation process, followed by a detection process using the DNA tag of the surrogate.

Core Innovation

A method is disclosed for providing a pathogen surrogate. The method includes receiving a poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)-based carrier formed of a non-toxic substance combining a DNA bar code with the carrier to form a pathogen surrogate.

A benchmarking operation is performed to determine whether a degradation rate of the pathogen surrogate behaves similarly to a degradation rate of a first pathogen when subjected to a first sanitation operation. The benchmarking operation includes applying an amount of the pathogen surrogate to a surface, subsequently performing the first sanitation operation on the surface, and subsequently enumerating a remaining amount of the pathogen surrogate on the surface by measuring a remaining DNA tracer signal.

A degree of degradation of the pathogen surrogate when subjected to the first sanitation operation is determined from a comparison of the amount of the pathogen surrogate remaining on the surface to the amount of the pathogen surrogate applied to the surface. The degree of degradation of the pathogen surrogate is then compared to a degree of degradation of the first pathogen when subjected to the first sanitation operation.

The disclosure is directed to using DNA-tagged, non-toxic pathogen surrogates formed by combining an encoded DNA bar code with a degradable carrier for validating and verifying sanitation in food processing and fresh produce wash water systems. The approach includes benchmarking by comparing surrogate degradation or remaining DNA signal after a sanitation operation to that of a corresponding first pathogen in the same sanitation operation.

Claims Coverage

The partial content explicitly provides one independent claim (clm-00001). The independent claim contains multiple inventive features centered on constructing a DNA bar code/PLGA-based non-toxic pathogen surrogate and benchmarking sanitation by comparing degradation of the surrogate with a first pathogen using DNA tracer signal measurements.

The claim coverage in the provided partial content is focused on constructing a DNA bar code/PLGA-based non-toxic pathogen surrogate and benchmarking sanitation performance by comparing the surrogate’s measured degradation (via remaining DNA tracer signal) to the degradation degree of a first pathogen under a sanitation operation.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications